23MAY2022 SNA/SNFO BOARD

[smpl_dude]

I take my ASTB on December 6th and my recruiter doesn't want to do anything else until then. I have my letters of recommendation lined up but the real work will start then. Nice scores btw! I'd say you're a pretty sure lock haha. Any study advice?

Thanks! I used Kyle's study guide, and that honestly will pretty much get you there. I also had the barron's book, which was nice for the practice tests and brushing up on basic knowledge. I focused most of my OAR studying on the math section, and then a bit on the mechanical comprehension stuff. I only did like one practice test of the reading section just so I would know what to expect. I also studied the cram flashcards for the ANIT section.

For the PBM I used the jantzen simulator with a joystick which was a great resource, but honestly, it can kind of trip you up because the dichotic listening isn't the same, and I think on the sim, your joystick controls a little plane and you're tracking a little target, but on the actual test you're controlling a little target and tracking a plane. Just small stuff that kind of threw me off for a second when I actually took the test. For the UAV, I was trying to get my time down to like 1-2 seconds per question. On the actual test I got like one or two wrong and I was under 2 secs for each question. I'm not sure how they weigh number correct vs speed on that section, but I tried to be both fast and accurate. I used the compass trick, though I know some people prefer not to.

Links:
I followed this guy's advice and it seemed to work well for me:

Kyle's Study guide: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AvPi5oH_h_13TGajDvflDWkftwXO8LS6

The Cram cards: https://www.cram.com/flashcards/astb-aviation-nautical-information-test-anit-comprehensive-4718163

UAV practice: https://www.proprofsflashcards.com/story.php?title=_36014

Jantzen sim: https://jantzenx.github.io/ASTB/

 

[FloridaDad]

Thanks! I used Kyle's study guide, and that honestly will pretty much get you there. I also had the barron's book, which was nice for the practice tests and brushing up on basic knowledge. I focused most of my OAR studying on the math section, and then a bit on the mechanical comprehension stuff. I only did like one practice test of the reading section just so I would know what to expect. I also studied the cram flashcards for the ANIT section.

For the PBM I used the jantzen simulator with a joystick which was a great resource, but honestly, it can kind of trip you up because the dichotic listening isn't the same, and I think on the sim, your joystick controls a little plane and you're tracking a little target, but on the actual test you're controlling a little target and tracking a plane. Just small stuff that kind of threw me off for a second when I actually took the test. For the UAV, I was trying to get my time down to like 1-2 seconds per question. On the actual test I got like one or two wrong and I was under 2 secs for each question. I'm not sure how they weigh number correct vs speed on that section, but I tried to be both fast and accurate. I used the compass trick, though I know some people prefer not to.

Links:
I followed this guy's advice and it seemed to work well for me:

Kyle's Study guide: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AvPi5oH_h_13TGajDvflDWkftwXO8LS6

The Cram cards: https://www.cram.com/flashcards/astb-aviation-nautical-information-test-anit-comprehensive-4718163

UAV practice: https://www.proprofsflashcards.com/story.php?title=_36014

Jantzen sim: https://jantzenx.github.io/ASTB/

Really appreciate the rundown! I’m using much of the same study material so this is really encouraging. I’ve had anxiety about making sure I’m on the right track. My wife and I study those cram flashcards for 1 to 2 hours every night. I have a lower GPA in a liberal arts major so I need to get 8s and 9s on this thing!

What lead you to wanting to go SNA?

 

[smpl_dude]

Really appreciate the rundown! I’m using much of the same study material so this is really encouraging. I’ve had anxiety about making sure I’m on the right track. My wife and I study those cram flashcards for 1 to 2 hours every night. I have a lower GPA in a liberal arts major so I need to get 8s and 9s on this thing!

What lead you to wanting to go SNA?

Yeah man if you're studying that much every night, you'll do great. I was suuuuuper anxious going into the test, thought I was doing terrible the whole time, and then sat there stunned when my scores came up. I have a STEM degree, which helped on the math/physics sections, but that's about it.

I actually work in aerospace now as a software engineer. I've been working on a flight management system. But it's not great sitting at a desk for most of my days, and I'd way rather fly the plane than build it, so I thought "May as well throw my hat in the ring". I looove aviation and in an ideal world I'd be able to be a test pilot, but I'd be happy in just about any cockpit! What about you?

 

[FloridaDad]

Yeah man if you're studying that much every night, you'll do great. I was suuuuuper anxious going into the test, thought I was doing terrible the whole time, and then sat there stunned when my scores came up. I have a STEM degree, which helped on the math/physics sections, but that's about it.

I actually work in aerospace now as a software engineer. I've been working on a flight management system. But it's not great sitting at a desk for most of my days, and I'd way rather fly the plane than build it, so I thought "May as well throw my hat in the ring". I looove aviation and in an ideal world I'd be able to be a test pilot, but I'd be happy in just about any cockpit! What about you?

I’m coming from a totally different world! I have a music degree and spent the last half decade as a teacher and performer as well as managing about 25 other teachers and their studios. COVID brought most of that to an end. Aviation was always my dream growing up though and I spent all of high school shooting for it! Got a scholarship and everything to study aerospace engineering but came to the realization as I finished high school that my eye sight had deteriorated to the point where I would never be able to fly for the military or NASA. So my heart wasn’t in it any more… I wanted to fly not just design. I never went to that college and ended up studying theater and music instead haha. The sudden collapse of my music career combined with having a wife and 2 children led to me looking into the military again and discovering that the rules about LASIK surgery had changed! So now here I am following my teenage dream once again! Life is funny sometimes! It’s been quite a journey reactivating math and physics concepts on my brain that I haven’t used in 12 years! And while I knew some about aerodynamics and planes, it’s obviously been mostly me information to me! It’s actually been pretty fun learning so much again!

 

[krspy]

Where are you guys at with your packages? I pretty much just have to go to MEPS at this point.

Studying for the ASTB and getting back into running shape.

 

[FloridaDad]

Studying for the ASTB and getting back into running shape.

How are your studies going? When’s your test?

 

[krspy]

How are your studies going? When’s your test?

My recruiter said I can schedule a time to come take it when I feel ready. I set a deadline to take it in January, so I'll have enough time to retake if needed.
Studies have been going well, Just been reviewing the Math and ANIT sections right now. I have been using the flashcards to study, and its a great tool.
The only section that I'm worried about is the PBM section. I tried that sim, but it feels weird with mouse and keyboard.

 

[FloridaDad]

My recruiter said I can schedule a time to come take it when I feel ready. I set a deadline to take it in January, so I'll have enough time to retake if needed.
Studies have been going well, Just been reviewing the Math and ANIT sections right now. I have been using the flashcards to study, and its a great tool.
The only section that I'm worried about is the PBM section. I tried that sim, but it feels weird with mouse and keyboard.

If you have a joystick it’s really simple to set up to use with that. The ASTB prep app has a really really good UAV sim.

 

[krspy]

If you have a joystick it’s really simple to set up to use with that. The ASTB prep app has a really really good UAV sim.

I might have to get a joystick, so I can get used to the inverted axis. Did you get a throttle to or did you still use the W & S keys? I'll also try that ASTB prep app, I heard a lot of good things about it. Thanks

 

[FloridaDad]

I might have to get a joystick, so I can get used to the inverted axis. Did you get a throttle to or did you still use the W & S keys? I'll also try that ASTB prep app, I heard a lot of good things about it. Thanks

I use the throttle but it’s incredibly finicky and probably not exactly accurate. Still good practice though I think. I know once I get in there for the test it’s going to feel a bit different either way.

 

[Maze_soba]

FWIW I was able to get my package submitted about a week ago! Just got the first background check interview call too so everything seems to be working.

 

[FloridaDad]

FWIW I was able to get my package submitted about a week ago! Just got the first background check interview call too so everything seems to be working.

That's awesome! Way to be ahead of the game! I'm going to ask you the same obnoxious what did you do for ASTB studying since you clearly knocked it out of the park!

 

[Maze_soba]

That's awesome! Way to be ahead of the game! I'm going to ask you the same obnoxious what did you do for ASTB studying since you clearly knocked it out of the park!

Haha thanks man!! I did a write-up here, but long story short, I used this book, the ASTB app on the app store (which is DEFINITELY worth the money), and did a crapton of practice tests. Somewhere on this forum, there's a Google drive link to something along the lines of "Gomez's prep" that's like Kyle's gouge on steroids. It's consolidated all of the practice tests from all of the books, and I just did a few for each category a day. Might've been overkill, but I was nervous about the math, so it helped a ton with muscle memory. The math is definitely harder on the test itself, but it's just using a bit of applied thinking so as long as you have the fundamentals down, it'll be fine.

If you can ace the math part, it'll really help your score because I think did horribly on MCT and RCT but still got a 9 on the AQR.

 

[Jacksa71]

Hello everyone, I will be apply for this board as well. As anyone created an excel yet?

 

[davidc1220]

HEY IT'S MY BOARD!!!! SUP Y'ALL!!